AL Roundup

Rangers go back-to-back in win over Tampa

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rafael Palmeiro hit two home runs and the Texas Rangers hit three consecutive homers for the second time in club history to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-6 Wednesday.

With the game tied at 6 in the eighth inning, Lee Stevens singled off Scott Aldred (2-1) and moved to second when reliever Rick White walked Roberto Kelly. One out later, Tom Goodwin hit an RBI single to snap the tie and end the Rangers' three-game skid.

Tigers 7, Blue Jays 3

TORONTO -- Juan Encarnacion hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the seventh inning, one of three Detroit homers off the struggling David Wells, as the Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 Wednesday night.

Angels 5, Orioles 4

BALTIMORE -- Andy Sheets doubled in two runs with two outs in the ninth inning as the Anaheim Angels rallied to defeat Mike Timlin and the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 Wednesday night.

Randy Velarde homered for the Angels, who were 1-20 when trailing after eight innings.

Anehiem trailed 4-3 before coming back in the ninth against Timlin (1-3), who blew his third save opportunity in nine tries.

Red Sox 6, Yankees 0

BOSTON -- Emergency starter Brian Rose pitched seven shutout innings and Jason Varitek went 4-for-4 with two homers as the surging Boston Red Sox beat the slumping New York Yankees.

Boston, which replaced the Yankees as the AL East leader with a 6-3 win over them on Tuesday night, increased its lead to 11/2 games with its 11th win in 13 games.

Indians 13, White Sox 7

CHICAGO -- Richie Sexson drove in a career-high five runs with his second career grand slam and an RBI single as the Cleveland Indians used an 18-hit attack to complete a three-game sweep.

David Justice, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez each drove in two runs for the Indians, who outscored the White Sox 39-16 and outhit them 48-23 in the series.

Royals 14, Athletics 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chad Kreuter drove in five runs, spoiling Tom Candiotti's bid for his 150th victory, and the Kansas City Royals beat Oakland to win their first home series of the year.

The loss was the second straight but just the fourth in 15 games for the A's and dropped them one game behind Texas in the AL West.

Kreuter, 7-for-9 the past two games with three doubles and seven RBIs, hit reliever Brad Rigby's first pitch for a two-run double in the fifth.

He added a two-run single off Rigby in the sixth. Kreuter, whose previous career-best was four RBIs, also had an RBI double in the third as the Royals won for the ninth time in 12 games.